All posts tagged ‘Hank Hill’

The boys tearing up the back yard tetherball court. Hopefully, a scene that will be frequently repeated this summer. Photo by Brad Moon

I share some of the concerns Jenny has about her kids and the easy/constant access to electronics, although I tend to take a somewhat less black and white stance. My house is pretty wired (or unwired these days, although not in the electronics-free sense). It always has been. I’m a bit of a gadget guy and that appreciation for electronic gear was readily adopted by my children. I don’t think there’s a room in the house that is completely electronics-free — there’s even a WiFi repeater taking up an unused electrical outlet in one of the bathrooms. We have a full suite of video game consoles, they each have iPads, iPods and there is a computer set up in their playroom. We’ve had a lot of fun together playing games, watching videos and listening to music; I don’t have any issue with our kids having access to electronics or in their using them. But I also believe in balance, so we’ve always ensured there are bins of Lego, Star Wars action figures, board games and plenty of other physical toys available. Sports are encouraged and they play organized soccer and volley ball.

Naturally, we have tons of books and comic books too, but the collection is largely virtual as I made the switch from dead tree versions several years ago. On a side note, that was one of the smartest decisions ever, with multiple kids in the same age range and the natural desire to use whatever a sibling is using. E-Books and e-comics mean everyone can have a copy at the same time, no fighting and no accidental tearing of covers. They’re still competitive, but now the fight is over who can read a book faster. I can live with that one.

With summer approaching, we wanted to make sure that the kids didn’t spend the bulk of their time lazing on the couch, glued to the TV. While I’ve been fortunate enough to be a stay-at-home dad for going on four years, I work the equivalent of full-time hours. So, while I see the kids during the day in the summer and have the flexibility to be able to take them to the beach, park or pool on most days (with the trade-off of writing later than night), I also need to spend at least a few hours every day holed up in my office. Which means that they’re left to their own devices to a certain extent.

Ideally, I want them to make the choice to include physical play and reading with their electronics activities. My wife and I encourage physical activity, but I’d like to know that I don’t have to mandate it. I’m avoiding the impulse to set specific time allocations on specific devices (unless things get out of hand, of course). But we’re trying to make things available to encourage that healthy mix to happen. So here’s what we’ve done to set up the summer, which officially begins for our kids this Thursday: Continue Reading “Plugged or Unplugged? Given the Choice, Will Kids Opt for a Balanced Summer?” »